SCREW was a weekly pornographictabloid newspaper published in the United States aimed at heterosexual men;[1] according to a statement on the cover, it offered "Jerk-Off Entertainment for Men".[2] It was first published in November 1968[3] by Al Goldstein and Jim Buckley (who edited the short-lived "sister" tabloid Gay[4]), and was printed weekly in tabloid form. At its peak, SCREW sold 140,000 copies a week.[5] Founder Al Goldstein won a series of nationally significant obscenity cases.[6]

SCREW published on May 2, 1969, the first reference in print to J. Edgar Hoover's sexuality, "Is J. Edgar Hoover a Fag?"[7][8][9]

Stripper and erotic performance artist Honeysuckle Divine wrote a column, "Diary of a Dirty Broad", for SCREW in 1974.[11] According to Goldstein, her act "was unbelievably disgusting, so naturally, we made her our symbol."[12]

In 1974, Goldstein and Buckley were charged with 12 counts of obscenity in a federal court in Kansas. The case dragged on for three years through two trials and was finally settled when Goldstein agreed to pay a $30,000 fine.[13]

In 1977, Alabama Governor George Wallace sued SCREW for $5 million for publishing the claim that he had learned to perform sexual acts from reading the magazine. The two parties settled for $12,500, and SCREW agreed to print an apology.[14]

The magazine closed in October 2003.[15] A New Screw Review was briefly restarted by former employees in 2005.[16]